Last week, a salafist gang was allowed to burn and loot a church in Aswan province for five hours, together with the houses of some Christians. In response, Christians in Cairo, joined by many Muslims, came out to peacefully stage a vigil outside the State TV. The official response was brutal: armoured trucks ran over people wantonly while live ammunition was shot at protestors.

The army forcefully shut down TV25 and Al-Hurra for showing live footage of the Maspero street riots, which were moving towards Tahrir. The response of the people, Muslim or Christian, was strong and defiant: they bravely fought with stones and petrol bombs the fury of 1,000 soldiers armed to the teeth (plus their salafist thugs). Instead of falling into the trap of letting the conflict slip into sectarian war, they chanted "Muslims and Christians are one" and "Down with the Field Marshal", in a reference to Tantawi. The result of yesterday's (October 9th) fight was terrible: at least 25 human beings were massacred in cold blood by the SCAF, and over 270 were seriously wounded.